(Media release from the Georgia Department of Public Health):
The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) was awarded $2,495,831.85 from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). The grant funding is used to provide technical assistance and resources to partner agencies statewide, develop community support for motor vehicle safety programs, support data linkages and help evaluate program efforts.
“This long-standing, unique partnership between highway safety and public health helps promote a safer Georgia,” said Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health. “This programmatic support has made a difference for Georgians and continues to save lives and prevent injuries.”
The funding from GOHS acknowledges the success of programs in Georgia that are essential to protecting public health.
- $1,567,881 to the Injury Prevention Program’s Child Occupant Safety Project (COSP) that promotes safe transportation of children throughout Georgia. COSP provides child safety seats and education for local caregivers through the car seat mini grant program active in more than 143 counties, as well as training specific to healthcare professionals, law enforcement, emergency medical services, firefighters, and childcare providers.
- $196,698.82 to the Office of Health Indicators for Planning, which processes Death, Population, Hospital Discharge and ER visit data. Data are made available to DPH on a departmental data warehouse and are published on OASIS, a web-based query system providing public access to Motor Vehicle Crash information on Deaths, Population, Hospital Discharges and ER visits (reporting using data tables, trends, charts, and maps.
- $308,690 to the Injury Prevention Program’s Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES), a project that brings together multiple agencies to identify opportunities for crash prevention by linking and analyzing crash, vehicle, and behavioral characteristics to medical and financial data.
- $192,420.99 to the Injury Prevention Program’s 55+ Driver Safety Program. This program educates drivers over the age of 55, their families, and professionals on safe driving, age-related mobility challenges, and the importance of mobility planning. The program develops comprehensive strategies to balance the needs of at-risk adult drivers with the safety of other road users and pedestrians.
- $230,141.04 for support of GEMSIS (the Georgia Emergency Medical Services Information System) upgrades and linkages, as well as tools to measure the time to definitive care, especially for trauma patients. The GEMSIS database is the only statewide source for pre-hospital care information. The GEMSIS Upgrades grant will support the work being done to increase the completeness and accuracy of the patient care information.
“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is working with all of our highway safety partners to reverse the increase in traffic deaths we have seen in the United States in the last two years and the goal of this project is to prevent crashes and save lives on our roads,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said. “We ask everyone to join the mission of saving lives on our roads by driving the speed limit, wearing your seat belt, staying off the phone when driving, and never driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
